Southeast Asian leaders urged to prioritize clean energy shift to avoid climate ‘catastrophe’

September 6, 2023 | 6:26pm

Philippine’s President Ferdinand Marcos, Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Thailand’s Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Sarun Charoensuwan, Vietnam’s Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo leave the stage after a family photo session during the opening ceremony of the ASEAN Summit in Jakarta on September 5, 2023.

Dita Alangkara/Pool/AFP

MANILA, Philippines — Climate activists on Wednesday called on Southeast Asian leaders to ramp up the shift away from fossil fuels and the pivot toward renewable energy sources such as wind and solar to avert climate “catastrophe.”

Campaigners across Asia said the member states of the Association of Southeast